Local synagogue honors Holocaust survivors

The Congregation Sons of Israel held their 2015 Purim Gala at the Allentown Jewish Community Center on Sunday night. At the gala they honored 11 holocaust survivors from the Lehigh Valley.

The Congregation Sons of Israel held their 2015 Purim Gala at the Allentown Jewish Community Center on Sunday night. At the gala they honored 11 holocaust survivors from the Lehigh Valley.

Christy PotterSpecial to The Morning Call

Allentown JCC honors holocaust survivors.

Their stories are as varied as their histories, but those who were honored at Congregation Sons of Israel's 2015 Purim Gala on Sunday night have one tie that binds them together: their memories of the Holocaust.

Eleven Holocaust survivors from the Lehigh Valley were honored during the gala at the Jewish Community Center of Allentown as part of the synagogue's observation of Purim, which commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman's plot to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews in a single day. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, and those two factors led to the decision to honor the Lehigh Valley's Holocaust survivors.

Rabbi David Wilensky said that most people would like to believe the horrors of the Holocaust are over, but current events say otherwise. While most Americans don't know what it's like to face religious persecution, anti-Semitism is on the rise and the problems Jews are facing all over the world are very real.

Julius Jacobs was first taken to the Lodz Ghetto in Poland where the only food was "moldy bread, and a couple of potatoes, whether they were good or not." He and his family were later taken to Auschwitz, where his parents died in the gas chambers. After he and his brother were liberated and moved to the U.S., he met and married Rosanna, who had survived an Eastern European work camp.

Other survivors had eerily similar stories, when they were willing to share.

"I don't like to talk about it," said Jackson, a native of Warsaw. "I was in the Lodz Ghetto, and when they dissolved the ghetto, I went to a concentration camp. We were liberated on April 15, 1945. And I am not going to say any more about it."

Her daughter, Renie, who came in from Winston-Salem, N.C., for the gala, said she grew up knowing her mother would not talk about the war. Her late father, on the other hand, was always willing to talk about it. He even wrote a book, called "Head of the Line: A Holocaust Survivor's Memoir."

Brenner, who also helped organize the gala, said she used to be unwilling to talk about the Holocaust, even to her family, but in later years realized she needed to talk about it.

"It's important to remember," she said, crediting the local Jewish community for always supporting each other, even when the memories are difficult.

"They took your childhood," she said. "That's really what it was. We lived in brick barracks, with straw on the floor, no heat, no food. I remember going out on the streets to beg for bread because we didn't have enough to eat."

She was 8 years old.

Michele Levy is one of the younger survivors — the war started just after she was born. Although she was born in Paris, her family was forced into hiding. Although she doesn't remember many details of their ordeal, she remembers the palpable feeling of fear in her family.

"Even when you're very young, you can tell when your parents are afraid," she said. "My parents were afraid. I'm alive because of my mother. Because of the way my parents protected us."

Levy now shares her story with students throughout the area, and along with her husband, Gilfrid, is involved with the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding of Muhlenberg College.

"When I talk with them, it's always well-received," she said. "I think it's important to keep sharing these stories."

Dr. Scott Brenner, president of the Congregation Sons of Israel, said the synagogue wanted to honor the Lehigh Valley's Holocaust survivors while they still can.

"They are getting older, and we wanted to honor them for their contribution to the Jewish community," Brenner said. "The tenor of these types of events tends to be solemn, but we wanted to show that out of all the atrocities came some good."

Christy Potter is a freelance writer.

JCC HONOREES

Regina Brenner of Allentown, Rose Breuer of South Whitehall, Libby Golomb of Allentown, Marcel Guindine of South Whitehall, Gloria Hartglass of Easton, Nina Jackson of South Whitehall, Rosanna Jacobs of Allentown, Julius Jacobs of Allentown, Eva Levitt of South Whitehall, Michele Levy of Salisbury Township, and Annemarie Warschauer of Allentown.